All about curry leaves, how cooks use them, and recipes that make the most of the spice
Curry leaf is not, unfortunately, the bouillon cube of the plant world – it does not magically turn an ordinary sauce into a curry-flavoured hit.
The thin, delicate leaves do, however, smell like Indian curries and, when used in a complex spice mixture, add a strong fragrance and a distinct, slightly bitter flavour.
You can buy inexpensive bags of fresh curry leaves in specialist Indian produce shops, while pricier jars of dried specimens can be found in upscale supermarkets.
Do not bother with the dried ones – usually they have lost much of their aroma and flavour. And the fresh leaves freeze well.
Curry leaves add a wonderful fragrance to this rempeyek with peanuts and ikan bilis dish. Photo: Jonathan Wong
In addition to being used in Indian kitchens – primarily in the south of the country – the leaves of the Murraya koenigii plant are used extensively in Sri Lanka and more sparingly in some Southeast Asian countries, including Vietnam, Cambodia and Malaysia. They are usually fried in oil to deepen the colour and flavour.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
South China Morning Post
7 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
3 killed in crowd surge at eastern India Hindu festival, official says
Three people were killed and more than a dozen hospitalised on Sunday following a sudden crowd surge at a popular Hindu festival in eastern India, a senior government official said. 'There was a sudden crowd surge of devotees for having a glimpse of the Hindu deities during which few people either fainted, felt suffocated or complained of breathlessness,' said Siddharth Shankar Swain, the top government official in Puri. Swain said that 15 people were rushed to a local government hospital, where three people were pronounced dead and the other 12 were discharged. Autopsies are planned for the deceased to determine the exact cause of death. Tens of thousands of devotees gathered in the coastal town early on Sunday at Shree Gundicha Temple near the famous Jagannatha Temple to catch a glimpse of the deities on board three chariots, Swain said. The coastal temple town of Puri comes alive each year with the grand 'Rath Yatra', or chariot festival, in one of the world's oldest and largest religious processions. The centuries-old festival involves Hindu deities being taken out of the temple and driven in colourfully decorated chariots. The festival is one of Hinduism's most revered events and draws hundreds of thousands of devotees annually from across India and the world.
South China Morning Post
2 days ago
- South China Morning Post
All about curry leaves, how cooks use them, and recipes that make the most of the spice
Curry leaf is not, unfortunately, the bouillon cube of the plant world – it does not magically turn an ordinary sauce into a curry-flavoured hit. The thin, delicate leaves do, however, smell like Indian curries and, when used in a complex spice mixture, add a strong fragrance and a distinct, slightly bitter flavour. You can buy inexpensive bags of fresh curry leaves in specialist Indian produce shops, while pricier jars of dried specimens can be found in upscale supermarkets. Do not bother with the dried ones – usually they have lost much of their aroma and flavour. And the fresh leaves freeze well. Curry leaves add a wonderful fragrance to this rempeyek with peanuts and ikan bilis dish. Photo: Jonathan Wong In addition to being used in Indian kitchens – primarily in the south of the country – the leaves of the Murraya koenigii plant are used extensively in Sri Lanka and more sparingly in some Southeast Asian countries, including Vietnam, Cambodia and Malaysia. They are usually fried in oil to deepen the colour and flavour.
South China Morning Post
20-06-2025
- South China Morning Post
Where does pepper come from? All about the spice, plus a delicious pepper crab recipe
Of all the spices, pepper is probably the most ubiquitous. Green peppercorns, white peppercorns and black peppercorns come from the same plant – the Piper nigrum vine. The stage at which they are picked and how they are processed determines the colour. The green peppercorn is the unripe fruit and it can be used fresh, dried or pickled. It is aromatic and hot, but not as strong as black or white peppercorns. Black peppercorns are also unripe, but the fruit has been processed, fermented and dried in a way that develops the flavour – making it more pungent than the green variety – and turns the exterior black and wrinkled. Green peppercorns are the unripe fruit of the Piper nigrum vine. Photo: Shutterstock White peppercorns are made from the fully ripe fruit, which is processed and the exterior removed, leaving only the white core. White pepper is the strongest and hottest of the three, and a little goes a long way. It is used in pale sauces, where the dark specks from ground black pepper would be unsightly. The Piper nigrum vine can also yield red peppercorns – which should not be mistaken for pink peppercorns as those come from a different plant – but these are very rare.
